The Blog

Cisco SPA112 V05 Capacitor Replacement List

Nix McRetro // 10th August 2021 // Categories: Modems, Repairs

Cisco SPA112 V05 Capacitor Replacement List

I did replace the capacitors in this one as they were… sus…pect (see photo below). And while there aren’t many photos, the ones I do have are now in the photo gallery in case they are of use to anyone. The serial number on this SPA112 is YM191HWJI129A. Capacitor replacement... Continue reading

NetComm IG6000 Industrial Dial-up Modem

Nix McRetro // 2nd August 2021 // Categories: Modems, Repairs

I stumbled upon the IG6000 modem by mistake. I was actually looking for a regular old dial-up modem for my test dial-up network. I’ve since learnt that NetComm had been eaten up by Casa Systems in 2019. My little modem pile shows how tangled things had become: Avtek or Banksia... Continue reading

Internal Inspection of the Sega Mega Drive Model 1 (VA0) HAA-2510

Nix McRetro // 24th July 2021 // Categories: Sega, YouTube

Today, we’re having a look around the internals of the first Mega Drive (HAA-2510), the model 1 VA0. There’s an interesting little daughter board installed that rises up from what would have been a single 4-pin oscillator. I guess they found some bugs very late in their testing! Related posts... Continue reading

The Mickey Mouse Watch

Nix McRetro // 18th July 2021 // Categories: Hacks, YouTube

Ah yes, the Mickey Mouse watch from my childhood. It broke down a long time ago and never got repaired. As it turns out, these watches are very complicated internally - I never stood a chance! Being unable to repair the existing mechanism, I did the next best thing, an... Continue reading

Dial-up on Windows 95 on the MiSTer FPGA

Nix McRetro // 12th July 2021 // Categories: Hacks, Livestream, Raspberry Pi

I can’t believe it worked. I switched from Prolific PL2303 to an FTDI FT232RL USB to serial cable which was recognised natively by the MiSTer as /dev/ttyUSB0. FTDI USB Serial Device converter now attached to ttyUSB0 This means I don’t need to compile a kernel driver thing. One thing... Continue reading